Pages

Saturday, June 12, 2010

It’s usually fun to read a book then go see it as a movie or TV show. What will the characters look like when they come to life on the screen? What parts of the book will be cut and what will make it to film? How will the director change the author’s words?

Unfortunately, not as many books are being turned into film, according to Variety.

According to the Publishers Marketplace database, 205 Hollywood book deals were reported between June 1, 2008 and June 1, 2009. That number declined to 190 over the same span in 2009-2010. The biggest drop was in literary fiction, from 30 in 2008-09 to just 17 in 2009-10.

Those are overall numbers. Maybe your favorite genre is doing better.

The action-thriller-suspense field rose from 19 to 21. The number of deals held steady for vampire and zombie books, comic tomes, chicklit … and for kids' fantasy …. The biggest growth area for Hollywood acquisitions? Young adult (YA) books, which grew from 21 pickups to 36 during the timeframe.

If you’re hoping your book will make it to film, consider this:

"Studios are clearly not interested in anything that's considered small, and anything under a $50 million or $40 million budget is considered small," says Bill Contardi, a lit and dramatic rights agent with Gotham-based Brandt & Hochman. "Serious fiction is often considered 'not big enough,' and there are fewer buyers for this material now."

Hollywood’s still looking for books, but they want the mega sellers primarily, the “sure thing”. What are they looking for today?

Risk-averse studios are increasingly shying away from material that can't be rendered in 3D or spawn a series of action figures.

So, what are agents doing?

As a result, many lit agents are shifting their focus to different genres, particularly books that skew to the under-18 crowd, like James Frey and Jobie Hughes' young adult novel "I Am Number Four," which is seen by DreamWorks as a potential franchise. Others with adult fiction clients are beginning to spend more time packaging material for TV than film.

This is only a small portion of the article, so, if you want the full story, click over.

How about you? Have you already picked out the actors/actresses who’ll star in the movie or TV show of your book(s)?

Sometimes I know exactly what actor/actress I want to see play a role and other times I have a picture in my head that doesn't fit any actor that I know of. Oftentimes I think they haven't cast the movie right!

When they make a movie based on my novel, I want Kate Winslet and Beatrice Dalle in main roles. Director should be Jim Jarmusch. I admit this is still quite some time into the future, since I've only written 3 chapters of the book so far >:)))

Often when I see movies based on books, I get disappointed, for instance when I saw the Name of the Rose (book by Umberto Eco). But there are exceptions; I think John Irving's books have become cool movies.

Yes, if they weren't so busy remaking films and shows that don't need a remake, there would be room for more original ideas. Never thought about who would play my characters. I just wouldn't want CassaStar to wind up on the SyFy channel!

Interesting facts. I have to admit, I actually really dislike seeing the movie if I've read the book because I usually have a very different image in my head of what it should look like. There are a few exceptions but for the most part I prefer my books and movies to stay distinct and seperate.Thanks for sharing this information and the link.

I am so with Alex on this. Please, no more remakes or continuing TV shows after they've been canceled and moving they onto the big screen. On the other hand, I'm constantly on the look out for young actors who would be perfect for the characters in my books. If only Hollywood would discover it.

Ha, if I wrote a book, I would not be interested in making the story a movie--I have been disappointed at many of the screen adaptations of my favorite books: Seabiscuit: An American Legend for instance.

Now that I think about it, the last five movies I have seen were based on books. Are any movies written for the screen anymore? Television has gone that way as well. I can't tell you how surprised I was to find out that the Vampire Diaries was a show. I read those books when I was a kid.

Angel Sometimes by Helen Ginger

Angel Sometimes

Helen Ginger

Helen is the author of five books: three non-fiction, a short story anthology and a contemporary fiction, Angel Sometimes. She maintains an informational and interactive blog for writers and a weekly e-newsletter that has been going out to subscribers around the globe for thirteen years. She is an owner-partner and Women’s Marketing Director for Legends In Our Own Minds®, which specializes in creative networking opportunities for companies and groups.